I will probably purchase the remastered edition of Age of Empires 2 when it launches on April 9th on Steam, but at this time I do not have my original copy of the game so I cannot test this feature...

Question: Is it possible to assign your own hotkeys for Age of Empires 2 (and expansions)? If not, what is the buzz word for keypads/boards that are tailored for RTS hotkey access (not asking for recommendation, just the industry standard)?

We can answer it for the original game. Since the HD version isn't out, and we don't allow questions about unreleased games, I have removed that tag from your question.
–
FrankMar 18 '13 at 22:06

AoE 2 allows you to rebind every hotkey in the game. I'm not sure I understand the second half of your question.
–
jw013Mar 18 '13 at 23:10

The second question pertains to modified keyboards (I think that may be the term). I've heard of keyboards that are smaller for one-handed use. This way a user can move the mouse and perform hotkeys simultaneously without ever lifting their hands.
–
jarrodparkesMar 19 '13 at 0:12

I feel like you could get tons of answers to your second question by asking about hardware setups in a Starcraft community. The pro / serious AoC community is very small and even some of the best AoC players at the moment use keybindings that are not too far off the default. I actually haven't heard of anyone using macros to play AoC.
–
jw013Mar 19 '13 at 20:54

@jw013 although most of them can be done, I think not every hotkey can be rebound, or not in every possible way. I have to check this but I remember being unable to create a specific combination I imagined.
–
naxaJul 12 '13 at 10:13